FSU Football: How Hurricane Irma changed course of 2017 season

FSU football was all set to bounce back from their opening game loss – until a tropical system changed how the entire 2017 season would play out.

As the clock ticked down to the final second in their season opening loss to Alabama, FSU football was already preparing for what the rest of the season had in store. There was nothing the Seminoles could do about losing to the Crimson Tide or injured quarterback Deondre Francois, but they could turn their attention to the schedule home opener against Louisiana Monroe.

Alas, things would not go as scheduled as a storm in the Atlantic Ocean moved closer to the state of Florida. Hurricane Irma, which would reach Category 5 strength at one point, churned toward Florida and kept everyone from Key West to Pensacola on notice. As the dangerous storm moved closer, schools across the state cancelled their games that week – including the Noles’ battle with the Warhawks.

It would be 21 days between Florida State’s opener with the Tide and their second game against N.C. State. The storm not only caused a delay between games, but also changed the course of the entire season for the Seminoles.

Now, for the record I am not saying that FSU football would be 8-1 at this point had Irma not devastated the Sunshine State – but the facts can not be argued that it set a series of events in motion that have the Noles being in the 3-5 situation they are in right now.

• Instead of sitting around and waiting three weeks, new quarterback James Blackman would have gotten a chance to get his feet wet against a Warhawks team currently ranked 122nd in total defense in the FBS as opposed to a Wolfpack team ranked 56th now, but much higher at the time.
• Louisiana Monroe was coming off a loss in their opener, as opposed to a NC State team that got two wins after their opening game loss and had built some confidence.
• After that, the Seminoles would have gotten the rival Miami Hurricanes in the third week of the season when the Canes had come off a sloppy opening game win over Bethune Cookman and perhaps a tougher than expected game on the road at Arkansas State, a team who might end up winning the Sun Belt Conference this season.
• Now, FSU football comes into that game with N.C. State at either 1-2 or 2-1 but with more confidence and two games under the belt with the new offense – along with a defense that likely continues to build off their solid showing in the opener with Alabama

Now, the Seminoles are coming into the month of November possibly with a record anywhere between 4-4 and maybe even 6-2. The hopes for a national title are out the window, but this team is still in the hunt for an ACC crown and fans aren’t wondering whether this is going to be the first losing season for FSU football in over dour decades.

Next: Pros and cons of possible Louisiana Monroe game

It’s always easy to look at things in hindsight to figure out what went wrong and of course the games are played on the field, so you can’t blame a weather system for this year’s underachievement with the Seminoles – but it can’t be argued that things likely would have turned out a lot different had the state never heard of the name Irma.